King's College London

About us:

King’s is a large, London based university with a wide world-leading research and teaching portfolio.  It has close working relationships with NHS Trust partners and fosters collaboration with 3rd party research organisations.

 Health & Safety Services reports to King’s Senior Vice President (Operations) & Chief Operating Officer.  Our role is to provide specialist and generalist advice, develop the university’s framework for health and safety risk management and report upon the performance of King’s risk management through regular assurance processes.  Our aim is to enable managers to identify and effectively manage foreseeable risks arising from the activities within their remit and know when to seek advice. 

We collaborate with other Professional Services functions and consult with our key stakeholders in King’s faculties to ensure there is alignment in the advice we provide and understanding of the challenges arising from a continually changing research environment.  We act as primary liaison with regulators and manage specialist outsourced services related to health and safety risk management and compliance.   

About the role:

We are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic health and safety professional with knowledge and experience of managing biological and GM risks arising from specialist and multidisciplinary research. The post holder will act as the university’s competent person and be responsible for developing and managing the strategy and framework for biological and GM risk management based on the continual improvement process of Plan Do Check Review.  

The role will include ex-officio attendance at Biological Safety Committees; maintaining the competency of Biological Safety Supervisors (who support the biosafety and GM risk management process in our faculties) through regular engagement and procurement of suitable training and providing pragmatic specialist advice to our Principal Investigators and Estates projects colleagues as necessary.  You will act as the first point of call for our regulators, advise key stakeholders and facilitate preparation for any regulatory visits.

This role is hybrid in nature but necessitates at least 5 working days each month on site at Lavington Street and on our campuses to be effective in the role and build strong relationships with team colleagues and key stakeholders.

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract

About you: (the candidate)

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      First degree in a microbiological or related discipline with demonstrable knowledge and experience, at a postgraduate level, of the practical application of GM and microbiological research techniques. 

2.      Minimum ISTR-accredited Biological Safety Practitioner (BSL-1), IOSH Approved “Biological Safety: Management and Practice” or equivalent with demonstrable knowledge and experience in practical application of relevant UK legislation, regulations and codes of practice. 

3.      Demonstrable experience of authoring written arrangements and training material for the management of biological safety and GM, and advising on risk assessments relating to biological safety and GM in an organisation of similar complexity to the university 

4.      Demonstrable analytical and problem-solving capability, with ability to work on their own initiative and as part of a professional team. 

5.      Demonstrable strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely (according to the audience) and influence a range of people at all levels across the university 

6.      Demonstrable ability to engage constructively with all key stakeholders and build effective and positive working relationships. 

7.      Demonstrable commitment to continuing professional development as a health and safety professional through attendance at conferences, training events and study as appropriate.

Desirable criteria

1.      Postgraduate degree in a microbiological or related discipline 

2.      Experience of working at Containment Level 3 

3.      Experience of planning and undertaking audits  

4.      Willing to study for PGCert in Occupational Health & Safety Management by distance learning 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.